Shlomo Sand: On Nations and Nationhood

Interesting talk from Shlomo Sand on the changing nature of how we think of nations - or at least how we should maybe think of nations. Sand argues that nationality should not based on race, religion, or language - so then what? Listen to hear his arguments.

On Nations and Nationhood

10th Feb 2011; 13:00

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RSA Thursday

What is a nation? Is it a group of strangers with a shared history, government, language, or ethnography? Are there inseparable cultural ties between inhabitants, or only shared political aims? Are there objective national histories or simply myths of creation?

The best-selling writer and academic Shlomo Sand asks what constitutes the national identity of a body of people, and interrogates the foundations of nationhood, arguing that a nation is not based upon race, religion, or language.

The author of the controversial 'The Invention of the Jewish People', Sand explains how the idea of the ‘invention’ of nationhood has played out in the national projects of Israel and Palestine.

Chair: Rosemary Hollis, Professor of Middle East Policy Studies and Director of the Olive Tree Programme at City University London

Suggested hashtag for Twitter users: #rsanation

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Speakers

• Shlomo Sand

Books

• 
  Buy now

  On the Nation and the Jewish People
  Shlomo Sand (Verso, 2010)

Tags: Shlomo Sand, On Nations and Nationhood, RSA, The Invention of the Jewish People, sociology, culture, society, nationalism, Philosophy, foundations of nationhood, nations, race, religion, language, national identity, Rosemary Hollis, Jews